Connector



B. A. LUNDY 2,443,509

June 15, 1948.

CONNECTOR Filed March 22, 1944 @zgizil.

co/v/v5c TED 2 TO cnecu/r I Patented June 15, 1948 V UNITED STATES PAT EN T OFFICE CONNECTOR.

Beverly *As Lundy, New York, 'N. 2., assignor to Railroad Accessorles.,Corporation, New York,

N. Y., a corporation ofNewYork 'ApplicationMarch. 22, 1944, SerialNoi527l538 -1 Claim.

1 This invention relates" to electricity, especially conductors; and more" particularly terminals.

A'principal o'bject of this invention is' to" provide a readily detachable connector-such thatall parts will be protected "by insulation inusuch wise that any object-bearing thereagainst :willi notibe placed in electrical contact with the conducting parts thereof.

' Other objects and advantages "will appear .2 as the description oi theparticular physical embodiment selected 1 to I illustrate the invention progresses, I and the novel features will be 1 particularly pointed out inthe appended claim.

In 1 describing the invention in detail and the particular physical embodimentiselecte'd to illustionalview of the device as shown by:Fig. 1 on the plane indicatediby the'Iine:IV-IV.=of -Fig. 1, viewed in-the direction" of thear-rows, atthe ends "ofthe line. 'Fig1'5 ista cross sectional view of the device asYshown "byd 'igc 1 on the planet indicated by the line V--=-V, viewed in the direction of the arrows at the ends ofzt'he line;' Fig. 6 is an'exploded View, J showing, in elevatioma "readily removableportion of -my connector, and below, a portion of I my connector which is permanently attached 7 to a 1 desired binding I post .1 Fig. '7 is" a bottom plan view of the removable portioncof the device as shown by Fig. 6 viewed inthedirection of the-arrows VII- VII;'Fig.u-8 is a view of a key used with my invention; Fig. '9 is a fragmentary view illustrating the adaptability of mydevice for securing more than onef conductor thereto,

In Fig. 1, ldesignates' anyfsuitable or appropriate base or support for 1a bindingipost =2.

This binding'post; as used in many iarts for instance the railwaysignal art, is: standard, thereioregunifonn in its dimensions amd threading. It: maybe secured in any appropriate'manher to the base l and usually includes a binding nut 3 andachecknuti and is connected in any suitable or appropriate mannerto some circuit. These binding posts .are very frequently-assembled on one. support inlarge numbers and on veryclose-spacing. The usual spacing is one inch oncenters.

In many situations, especially in .the railway signal art, it is quite often necessary to' remove the conductors-"connected to binding'postsas 2, for various reasons, such as the replacementof relays, or the testing of circuits. The multiplicity of conductors thatxare released," incerta-insituations, affords ample opportunity for improper electrical contact :between conductors removed from binding posts and also affords ample-opportunity for errors in replacing theconductors .upon. the-proper binding posts.

In order to provide a solution for the *difficulties, above .pointed out, applicants device has been vprovided with the intention of supplying a means by which conductors may be readily-separated-from the binding posts with which they are electrically connected and,when separated, cannot make electrical contact one with the other, andiurthermore, bear indicia correspondingwith indicia upon the binding posts so that theytmay be readily.properly. replaced.

The conductonforming part of a. circuit, which isito be-electrically connected to the binding post 2 .isindicated by 5. In the form -shown,-it is covered with an insulated material G and isprovided at the end-withan eyelet I made of metallic materiaL-andzfirmly electrically connected with the'conducting-wire within the insulated material ,-6.of theconductori. The eyelet l receivesthe metallic -binding-stud-8. This studis provided with a a screw thread 9 and withan enlarged head? It. The stud'projectsthrough aninter mediate wall I I, so'that asthe head in is on one side of the wall and the eyelet! is. on the. other side of the wall ajam nut I? may be threaded onto the stud-8and securely:jam theeyelet I toward the upper surface of the intermediate *and: so hold it securely in place. Anplicants preferred construction is toplace ametallic washer l3below the eyelet 1 and .a metallic washer 'll abovethe eyelet 13' and after turning nut li -home, applyingwcheck nut l5.to;stud =8 to prevent the loosening of nut l2 so that all parts will be held firmly together.

The intermediate wall I l is a portion of a shell of insulated material having two hollow spaces or cavities therein, one formed by the skirt l6 depending from intermediate wall II and the other formed by the upstanding skirt ll rising from intermediate wall I l. The skirt l! is slotted as at l8, to form a conductor receiving opening communicating with the upper cavity to allow the conductor to extend into the hollow space formed by skirt, 16. In the hollow space formed by skirt [6, two metallic spring members are positioned, l9 and 20. Each of these spring members is provided with an orifice having a flat side,

preferably a square orifice, as at 2|, and are placed over the stud 8, resting on the enlarged shoulder 10 thereof, and positioned between the head l8 and the lower surface of the intermediate partition ll so that when eyelet 1 is tightly secured, the springs l9 and are also .tightly secured and due to the square orifice cannot rotate about the stud 8,

The spring members l9 and 20 have depending portions, as 22 and 23, on IS, and 24 and 25, on 20. These depending portions rest in longitudinal grooves, as 48, best shown in Fig. 5, and are each formed with inturned corrugations. One of these corrugations, as 26, is disposed in proximity to head 18, the other, as 21, is disposed in proximity to the lower open end of skirt Hi. All of these corrugations, when the connector is in place, bear against cylindrical plug 28 and the surfaces bearing on the plug 28 of the spring members 19 and 20 are arcuate, as shown at 29 and 30 in Fig. 4, and 3! and 32 in Fig. 5, so that good mechanical and good electrical contact is secured.

The lower ends of the depending portions of spring members l9 and 20, as at 33 and 34, are bent outwardly sufiiciently to bear against the inner surface of the wall of skirt l6 so that the spring members I9 and 20, especially at the con tacting surfaces, as 3| and 32, are spring pressed firmly against plug 28.

The plug 28 is generally cylindrical in form and is uniform in diameter except in the intermediate portion. A part 35 is formed, in the nature of a circumferential groove, which is slightly less in diameter than the remainder of the plug.

The upper end of the plug bears indicia. This is preferably in the form of a thin disk 36 positioned on the top of the plug and held in place thereon by forming a relatively thin skirt 31 at the upper end of the plug and then after pressing the disk 36 in place crimping or spinning the skirt over onto the disk to hold the disk in place. The disk, before being put in place, has the indicia suitably inscribed thereon in any usual or desired manner, preferably by stamping, and the indicia. may be any desired indicia, such as a digit or number, as numeral 2. This indicia on the plug 28 will correspond with a like indicia on the jam or check nut l5, as shown in Fig. 2, or alternatively or in addition, like indicia on the shell, as at 49.

The skirt l1 and the slot l8 are made of such dimensions that instead of connecting one conductor only, as to stud 8, two or more may be connected, as shown in Fig. 9, in which 38 designates a second conductor which may be connected along with conductor 5 to stud 8.

In assembling the device, the spring members l9 and 28 are placed over stud 8 and then stud 8 with the spring members are inserted through the lower end of skirt I6 and the stud is pressed through the bore 39 in the intermediate wall ll until it arrives in position as shown in Fig. 1. In order that it will be retained in this position while placing the conductor eyelet 1 thereon, it may be cemented in place, or a couple of ribs, as 40 and Al, are formed on the squared part 42 of the stud 8 which are pressed into the insulated material of the shell whereby the stud is temporarily held in place while washer I3 is firstplaced thereon, then eyelet 1 is placed thereon, then washer I4, and after nut l2 has been put in place, check nut I5 is put in place. Each of these nuts l2 and I5 being threaded down by means of the key 43 which is provided with depending lugs 44 and 45 to fit into the notches, as 46 and 41, respectively, of the nuts, although, of course,

' it is not desired to exclude the use of nuts l2 and 20 2, and is screwed down thereon into the position as shown in Fig. 1. When the parts are positioned as shown in Fig. 6, the shell together with the associated parts is then pushed down into place upon the plug 28 until it reaches the position as shown in Fig. 1.

In order to more completely protect the electrical conducting parts, a covering shell 5|] may be inserted into the top ofthe hollow skirt IT. This covering shell may be made of any well known appropriate insulating material, and have slots as 5! in its depending skirt so that it may be held in skirt H by its natural spring.

If at any time it is desired to remove the conductor 5 from electrical connection binding post 2, the insulated shell on the conductor binding shell is grasped and the shell pulled upwardly off the plug 28. When the shell is pulled upwardly, the bends 2'! of the spring members drop into circumferential groove 35 and necessitates a harder pull to complete the motion of the shell off the plug 28, This is done because it may happen that a slight pull upon conductor 5 may displace the shell but when the projections 21 drop into the grooves 25 a very decided pull is necessary to entirely remove the shell from plug 28 so that the groove 35 acts on a safety catch. This may be dispensed with if not desired.

When the shell together with its associated parts is removed from the plug 28, the plug 28 is then free to'apply any test point thereto to ascertain the condition with respect to the circuit connected therewith and a test point may also be applied to stud 8 to ascertain the condition of the circuit of which conductor 5 forms a part. While the shell is removed from the plug, it may be swinging about and coming in contact with other objects but all of the electrical conducting parts are well protected by the shell so that no undesired electrical circuit will be formed.

After the shell with its associated parts has been removed from the plug 28, there is no necessity for remembering which shell and the conductor connected thereto should be associated with which binding post because it is merely necessary to inspect the check nut It": at the top of the shell and the indicia at the top of the plug 28 *and then place like indicia together.

The inbent portion 26 of the dependent spring members not only assists in making good .electric contact with the plug 28, but it also. assists in steadying and keeping the insulating shell properly lined up so that its outer surface is in a line substantially parallel with the surface of the binding post 2 so that the shells have no tendency to wabble about on the binding posts.

Although I have particularly described one particular physical embodiment only of my invention, nevertheless, I desire to have it understood that the form selected is merely illustrative but does not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea and means underlying my invention. a

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

A device for electrically connecting a conductor to a threaded binding post, including, in combination: a cylindrical plug screw threadedly attached to a threaded binding post; an insulating shell formed with an upper cavity and a lower cavity separated by a wall formed with a through bore, and also formed with a conductor receiving opening communicating with the upper cavit in the form of a slot extending 1ongitudinally of the shell and extending to the top face thereof; a headed threaded metallic stud positioned in the bore with the threaded portion above the said wall and the headed portion below the said wall; means including threaded nuts engaging the threaded metallic stud posi- 6 tioned in the upper cavity to mechanically and electrically attach an electrical conductor to the stud and means positioned entirely in the lower cavity electrically connected to the stud for making mechanical and electrical contact with the said plug.

BEVERLY A. LUNDY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,001,035 Hubert Aug. 22, 1911 1,576,604 Hard Mar. 16, 1926 1,601,827 Hall Oct. 5, 1926 1,753,317 Rothen Apr. 8, 1930 1,894,598 Noishiki Jan. 17, 1933 2,082,027 'Rah June 1, 1937 2,214,587 Kraut Sept. 10, 1940 2,253,593 Warren Aug. 26, 1941 2,335,041 Bruno Nov. 23, 1943 2,360,304 McLaughlin et al. Oct. 10, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 545,719 France July 28, 1922 

